Friday, April 15, 2011

Picture got your attention, didn't it?! LOL... Just the other day, I was in a restaurant (Hooters) with my daughters' dance team and my wife and all the parents. I felt a little ashamed to even walk in the place for obvious reasons but it was the only restaurant open at that late hour after my daughter's performance at the Carolina Opry in Myrtle Beach. I really felt the waitresses were totally being taken advantage of in a very disgraceful way. But while I was sitting there, one of the young dancers (about 15 years old) complained she had hurt her back in the last performance. It was really hurting her. I felt ashamed to be in the restaurant, inadequate, unprepared, etc. But I just thought... "That ought not to be for one so young!" And I simply said, "C'mere a second." She said, "What're you gonna do?" I said, "Just come here." On her way to walking to me, her back started heating up and tingling! I didn't even get to pray or lay my hands on her before Jesus started healing her. Her pain was removed.

Jesus is always the same even when we aren't. He heals in all situations and in every atmosphere. There is no atmosphere or human idea or emotion that can stop Him. We do not have to have the "right atmosphere" for Him to move. He's not offended by people, places or things. He works everywhere and with anybody and in any situation. Amen! So stop trying to "get the right atmosphere for God to move"! This is silly religious stuff and has nothing to do with the truth. God has ALREADY moved... it is now OUR move.

Yesterday (Thursday, 14-Apr-2011), I was in Georgia on business and one of my coworkers at a company down there was having back issues (he had a cane). Here's how I approached him. I said, "Hey, Joel, what's with the cane, buddy?" He said, "Well, I've hurt my back or something. Having to use the cane occasionally to get around as the pain shoots down my leg at times." I said, "Wow, man, I'm really sorry. Listen, I don't know what you believe, but I have something to ask you." He said, "What is it?" I said, "Well, I've had a bit of success at getting folks healed of back problems. It's a very casual thing. I just lay my hands on you and pray and we'll see what happens? If nothing happens, well, there is no harm done, right? And if something does, you could be out of pain. What do you think?" He said, "OK, sure. That sounds OK. Give it a try. It couldn't hurt." So I did; I commanded his back to be healed in the name of Jesus. Then I checked, "Do you feel anything? Like heat or tingling or anything?" He said, "Well, I don't feel heat or tingling, no. But I do feel something. It is hard to describe." I said, "That's OK. Something is usually a good sign." He checked it a little and said it felt a little better. I said, "A little better is good, right?" He smiled and said, "Sure." Then he kinda looked up and just simply said, "Thanks." He was visibly moved by the love I showed him and not so much by the feeling in his back.

Jesus touches the whole man, body, soul & spirit. Joel felt both God's power in his own body and the love of God demonstrated in a simple act of praying casually for his pain. I told him we can do it again next time I came down, just in case he's not all the way better.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends (GregC) put me in contact with a lady that lives near me. Her son (Isaac) was having seizures; he's only 4 years old. I met with them and we talked for a while about Jesus. I asked her if she had anything wrong with her. My intention was to boost her faith that this was real and we were not just going to pray like most. She said her ear was stopped up and painful to touch. I prayed for her ear and commanded the pain to leave... it did! She felt a pressure change inside and it was no longer painful to touch. This, I believe, boosted her faith quite a bit! So then we laid hands on her son and rebuked seizures and the spirit of infirmity. Today I got this message from her:

"Praise report: Isaac is doing really well right now. I have not noticed any seizure activity at all of any kind for about a week now. Most of his tests for several serious and life threatening disorders have come back normal. We are beginning the diet on the 18th, but wouldn't it be great if in the hospital they found that he did not need it!!"

Amen! Thank You Jesus.

Also, a few weeks ago, another friend of mine (Chuck) called me and asked me to pray for his friend (Butch) who had some extremely rare kind of highly contagious virus. Butch was in ICU and basically thought to be on his death bed. I asked if I could go see him. Chuck said they probably wouldn't let me in because it was so contagious. I asked the Lord about it and I felt like it was the right thing to do, so I went to the hospital and asked if I could go in with his wife (Cheerie) and lay hands on him. I explained to Cheerie that I wasn't going to ask God to heal Butch, but I was going to do the works of Christ and command his healing because I already knew what God wanted. There were several people from her family and church there and some of them overheard me telling Cheerie the gospel of healing.

Cheerie very willingly took me to his room in ICU. The glass panels to the room were shut with big warning signs on them. We put on a mask, robe, gloves, hat and shoe covers before we entered. I spoke to Butch (though he was unconscious) and told him Jesus wanted him well. I basically taught the gospel out loud to him just to let him know in the spirit. Then Cheerie and I laid our hands on him and commanded his healing. I didn't see any response other than Cheerie was moved. Before we left the room we had to remove all the garb and put it in the biological hazard canister.

That very night his kidneys began to function again! It was a slow process, but immediate improvement was an exciting thing after he had done nothing but go down hill. Turns out his teenage son kept telling everyone that his dad was not going to die! Amen!

I got this message this morning from one of his friends:

"Praising God this morning!!! Our sweet friend, Butch Cooper is improving so beautifully! His trach and dialysis port were both removed this morning! :) Yay God! ...and he just told Chuck to bring him fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy & biscuits back this evening for dinner! He is truly a miracle! Thanks for praying for him!!!"

(10-Aug-2011 UPDATE): I got this text message about Butch from a friend of mine (Chuck):

"Hi Greg. Cheerie Cooper sent this update for Butch. She wanted me to let u know. See ya later: 'Chuck, please join Butch & I in a time of praise to God. He just returned from his visit to the pulmonologist (Mr. Pessimist) with the X-ray showing very little scaring left in his lungs. God is great! Please let Greg Kiser & your mom know about this wonderful news...'"

Never lose hope, and never stop pressing. Jesus taught persistence in many places. It is not that we are persistent with God, for God wants the person healed much more than you do. In fact, Father God has already provided healing for every single person that will ever live. It is a matter of us receiving His finished work in Jesus Christ. So what do we persist against? Against everything that opposes the will of God. And the will of God is very clear:

1 Timothy 2

3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

The word translated "saved" in the above scripture is the Greek word sozo, and it means "whole." It is not just referring to the limited meaning of "getting to go to heaven when you die" that many preachers and Christians put on it. It simply means to be saved from all manner of harm. It's very first 3 uses in the New Testament show the wide variety of its application:

Saved From Sin

Matthew 1

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.

Saved From Physical Danger

Matthew 8

25 So the disciples came and woke Him up, saying, "Lord, save us! We’re going to die!"

Saved From Sickness

Matthew 9

21 for she said to herself, "If I can just touch His robe, I’ll be made well!"

Thus to limit the meaning to just getting to go to heaven when you die is not Biblically accurate! Now, go above and read 1Timothy 2:3-4 again. Now you can see that God is not willing that any should suffer for their sins. He is also not willing that any should die in accidents. He is also not willing that any should be sick! He wants for His children what any good parent wants: Forgiveness, safety and health!